MIKE’S TOP TEN ANTICIPATED BOARDGAMES OF 2017Hot

So I’ve taken a cursory glance at all of the announced titles that are expected to come out in 2017 and whipped up a Top Ten. These are the games that make me lose sleep at night because I’m obsessing about them like some love struck teenager. That gentle cooing and deep sighing you hear is me looking lovingly at a Polaroid of the game in the number one spot. You creeped out? Wanna turn back? Too late, OFF WE GO!

10. Big Trouble in Little China: The Boardgame (Everthing Epic Games)

Has it been noted anywhere on the Wolfman’s Lounge that Big Trouble in Little China is my favorite movie of all time? It hasn’t? Well it is. Make a mental note for when you have to buy me gifts. In regards to the game, I haven’t a clue if it’s going to suck or make me feel like I just chugged one of Egg Shen’s magic potions. All I know is that I’m excited that it’s coming out. What more could I guy ask for?

9. Alien Artifacts (Portal Games)

This is another one I don’t know much about. However, does the phrase “4x CARD GAME” both confuse and excite you? I thought so. Typically, 4x games are huge ass, 6+ hour monsters like Twilight Imperium III, so a card game version of that immediately piques my interest. It defies all logic. Spock himself has told me so. The concept alone is what put it on the list, but Portal Games is a very smart and capable publisher. Fingers crossed this turns out OK.

8. Justice League: The Board Game (abba Games)

So we’re still all waiting for the definitive superhero boardgame. There are almost zero worthwhile contenders. The few that are good seem to be shunned by the masses for one reason or another. Still, I can’t help but get lost in frothy anticipation for this game. It promises to be an “Us vs Them” team style adventure game that will cull popular stories from the DC archives. However, the real selling point is that each superhero is played using a unique gameplay mechanic. This means that the person playing Batman is literally playing the game differently than Superman or The Flash. The designers are a complete unknown, but here’s to hoping that this is finally THE SUPERHERO game that I’ve been waiting for.

7. Heroes of Land, Air & Sea (Gamelyn Games)

This is a giant 4x style game from the guy know for his “Tiny Epic” series of games. That’s not why I’ve sniffed it out though. Nope, it’s on this list because it looks like the inspiration for the game is Warcraft II and Warcraft III. Yes, the old PC games. I LOVE those games and if this comes close to being a proper analog version then I’m all in. Zug Zug mother fuckers!

6. Escape from 100 Million BC (IDW)

With a name like that, how could I NOT get psyched? Also, look at that box art! Tell me it’s not the most ridiculously, awesome thing your eyes have witnessed today! It looks like some lost piece of cinematic trash from New World Pictures circa 1987-1991 starring either Jean Claude Van Damme or Dolph Lundgren. I literally know nothing about this game, but I’m “all in” thanks to the silly/dumb/amazing theme. Sometimes you can’t overthink this shit.

5. Shark Island (Upper Deck)

Just look at that fucking picture! Drink it in! How could you walk past this on a store shelf and NOT buy it? In case you’re wondering, let me assuage your fears…yes one person gets to be a man-eating, great white shark. I’ll give you a moment to let that sink in. I don’t think I need to say anything else do I?

4. First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet (Portal Games)

This is the sci-fi follow up to the smash hit (and brutally unforgiving) Robinson Crusoe. The big changes being that it’s now set on Mars and the game is completely App driven. I for one am completely sold on Apps integrating with boardgames and I can’t wait to try this. Plus, this game will let me break out my “Get your ass to MAAAHS!” Arnold impression. That’s worth at least a top five spot.

3. Rising Sun (CMON)

Eric Lang is arguably the best designer in the “Dudes on a Map” genre. His last attempt, Blood Rage, was nothing short of fantastic and this spiritual successor will hopefully be even better. It’s a tall task, but I think the man is up to the challenge. I dig the samurai mixed with Japanese folklore setting and I hear this game will feature plenty of negotiating which always makes me happy.

2. Assault of the Giants (Wiz Kids)

Ever since Cthulhu Wars stomped onto the scene a few years ago, companies have been looking to capitalize on the oxymoronic HUGE miniatures phenomenon. Welcome to Dungeons and Dragons’ attempt at a game with big fucking minis. Giant minis, if you will. The recent glut of D&D boardgames have ALL been completely on point, so I have stratospheric expectations for this.

1. Doctor Who: Time of the Daleks (Gale Force Nine)

I love me some Doctor Who and Gale Force Nine makes the best damned licensed games in the ENTIRE universe. They are a company that just flat out understands how to properly translate a property into a boardgame. The design choices they make always feel richly thematic, and yet immediately accessible. When you get done playing you have this sensation that you literally escaped to whatever TV Show, or license that the game was about. Trust me when I say that this is not an easy task to accomplish. These guys have proved again and again that they simply have no peer when it comes to licensed games. They’re take on Doctor Who looks incredible, and I absolutely cannot wait to play it. Allons y!

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I'm intrigued by Escape from 100 Million BC... great cover, a neat premise, and it's Kevin Wilson.

Right. The in-game art itself isn't great, though. Still, looks like it might be fun. Or dumb. Or dumb fun. One of those.

I was about to post the same thing. That cover art is truly magnificient, but (and this is one of my board game aesthetic pet peeves) the interior art was clearly done by a different artist in a different style and is honestly pretty lousy looking. Cool premise though.

Hoping Shark Island won't have a similar problem, that game sounds fantastic!

I'm intrigued by Escape from 100 Million BC... great cover, a neat premise, and it's Kevin Wilson.

Right. The in-game art itself isn't great, though. Still, looks like it might be fun. Or dumb. Or dumb fun. One of those.

I was about to post the same thing. That cover art is truly magnificient, but (and this is one of my board game aesthetic pet peeves) the interior art was clearly done by a different artist in a different style and is honestly pretty lousy looking. Cool premise though.

On its own, I wouldn't necessarily call the interior game art "lousy." It's reasonably functional and fine, if a bit bland. It's definitely not comparable to the awful graphic design of something like the Defenders of the Realm/Last Stand games. And those games were fun enough to play despite their graphic/art issues. But with this one, what makes it seem so bad is the juxtaposition between that amazing cover and then what you see on the back for the actual components. I would almost wonder if I had the wrong box top for the game compared to what's inside.

10. I find Big Trouble in Little China to be a frustrating movie. It looks cool but the pacing and dialogue often seems deliberately awkward, so it ends up falling short as either a comedy or an action movie or even a hybrid of the two. And yet a boardgame interpretation could potentially work well.

8. You are completely right in saying that we need a definitive superhero boardgame. This one sounds promising, and is probably the most alluring game on this list for me.

7. I hate the cover art for Heroes of Land, Air and Sea. I know that I shouldn't judge a game by the cover, but I fear that this art will also be inside the box, and I wouldn't want to look at it for hours while playing a game.

6. Along with superheroes, we need a good game with dinosaurs. Hopefully this is it.

5. Shark Island has an awesome cover, and it sounds great that somebody plays the shark.

4. First Martians sounded potentially good until I got to the App-part. That's still a deal-breaker gimmick for me.

3. Rising Sun has an appealing pitch, but I find Lang very hit or miss.

2. Assault of the Giants as a D&D boardgame almost sounds like a boardgame version the old G-series modules. Huge minis sound expensive, though, so probably a pass for me.

1. I agree that Gale Force Nine is the all-time best at making licensed games, but Doctor Who is a franchise that I primarily associate with shouty exposition. Would need to try this one before buying.

10. I find Big Trouble in Little China to be a frustrating movie. It looks cool but the pacing and dialogue often seems deliberately awkward, so it ends up falling short as either a comedy or an action movie or even a hybrid of the two. And yet a boardgame interpretation could potentially work well.

As a dramatic presentation, it's fucking awful. From Kim Cattrall shoutcasting the plot to Kurt Russell chewing scenery, it's just bad. If you accept it as a B-movie, then it's worth sitting in front of a time or two. As a boardgame, it holds the potential to be hilarious, however.Shellhead wrote:

Read the description of this on BGG and the label "4x" may be generous, since it sounds a lot like Race for the Galaxy (symbol system for the cards, etc.) I'm not enthused.Shellhead wrote:

7. I hate the cover art for Heroes of Land, Air and Sea. I know that I shouldn't judge a game by the cover, but I fear that this art will also be inside the box, and I wouldn't want to look at it for hours while playing a game.

As much as I loved the Warcraft games, I keep thinking that playing a boardgame version of them would just lead to me wanting to play the video game and getting frustrated by the slower pace of what's in front of me.Shellhead wrote:

3. Rising Sun has an appealing pitch, but I find Lang very hit or miss.

Loved Chaos in the Old World. Am really enjoying The Others. Haven't tried Blood Rage, but the mythology behind Rising Sun appeals to me, so will probably try it.Shellhead wrote:

2. Assault of the Giants as a D&D boardgame almost sounds like a boardgame version the old G-series modules. Huge minis sound expensive, though, so probably a pass for me.

When I saw the thread here last week, I went and looked it over on BGG. It essentially does take elements of G-1-2-3 and reproduce them as a DoaM. There's six factions and each of them has a different goal to work toward, in addition to the main one of collecting VPs. You compete with each other directly (giant v giant combat) or by using the roving giantslayer mercs that move around the board. Supposedly each faction (storm, cloud, stone, hill, fire, frost) plays differently via their different decks and it has an interesting card play mechanic. It all sounds really good, but I'm really cagey about stuff that strikes me as "overproduction on nostalgia", especially at the price tag that they're asking ($80.) Maybe.

Yeah, I was hoping to highlight stuff that most sites weren't really covering. I could have easily made a list filled with Massive Darkness, Gloomhaven, Swords and Sorcery, Near and Far etc...

I basically took a glance at stuff and judged them PURELY on potential fun factor. Like how can I NOT want that goddamn shark game??? Yeah the fact that it's Upper Deck has me worried, but it's being co-designed by Richard Launius and I tend to really like his stuff. I don't expect many of these games to land on any "best of 2017" lists, but that just fine with me. I'd rather track down some ridiculous or interesting designs at this point and then chase after the huge releases long after the hype has died down a little.

Also, little shameless self plug, but this article was originally published over at The Wolfman's Lounge which is a silly little website that I started with Josh Look. We don't typically cover boardgames, but when we do we will try to post the articles over here. The Wolfman's Lounge is sort a tribute to all of the absurd and ridiculous things that Josh and I both seemingly love. Basically stuff that we talk about in the trash talk forums. We'll have articles on retro video games, comics, superhero films, b movies, boardgames, junk food, toys from 80s and 90s and more. It's a hell of a lot of fun and we'd love it if you checked it out or liked us over on facebook!

I'll still being doing exclusive articles here at the Fort. The Wolfman's Lounge stuff tends to be a little bit sillier in tone and more focused on entertaining rather than informing. Still based on what you guys like chatting about on the forums I'm sure you'll find stuff that amuses you over there as well!

Rad is a great movie, guys. The little shitty rural Canadian town looks some kind of eternal purgatory. Of course these kids would be obsessed with BMX biking, what the hell else is there to do? There's even a Sparks song during the lame prom sequence featuring BICYCLE DANCING. Great movie.

The Doctor Who game has been something of an ongoing saga over on BGG. By all indications it's taken the shape of an elaborate dice game, not unlike Elder Sign. There was also a move away from the larger $75 production to a smaller $50 box, knocking out two players (and two versions of the Doctor) in the process. Those will come with expansions.

There's some handwringing over all of this on BGG. Several people seem disappointed in the dice-based game that appears to be what we're getting, and there's been some out loud wondering if it'll capture the theme at all. (Seems hard to know that if we haven't played, but whatever.) Some people are also bummed that two Doctors have been cut, but I think that's more a product of fear that there won't be any expansions and that it'll be dropped like the WWE game.

I think the overlap of board gamers and Doctor Who fans is probably too broad for this game to flop, but I have modified my expectations accordingly. I am still generally optimistic, but then I've got a bigger acceptance for "abstraction" when translating stuff like this. I'm not sure what a perfectly "thematic" experience would even be for Doctor Who. Mostly I'm looking for a game that allows me to find creative solutions to problems, and lets me grow attached to specific characters within the game, even if it's only for a little while. I suspect both of those will be much easier to accomplish once there is some expansion content out for the game.

The Doctor Who game has been something of an ongoing saga over on BGG. By all indications it's taken the shape of an elaborate dice game, not unlike Elder Sign. There was also a move away from the larger $75 production to a smaller $50 box, knocking out two players (and two versions of the Doctor) in the process. Those will come with expansions.

There's some handwringing over all of this on BGG. Several people seem disappointed in the dice-based game that appears to be what we're getting, and there's been some out loud wondering if it'll capture the theme at all. (Seems hard to know that if we haven't played, but whatever.) Some people are also bummed that two Doctors have been cut, but I think that's more a product of fear that there won't be any expansions and that it'll be dropped like the WWE game.

I think the overlap of board gamers and Doctor Who fans is probably too broad for this game to flop, but I have modified my expectations accordingly. I am still generally optimistic, but then I've got a bigger acceptance for "abstraction" when translating stuff like this. I'm not sure what a perfectly "thematic" experience would even be for Doctor Who. Mostly I'm looking for a game that allows me to find creative solutions to problems, and lets me grow attached to specific characters within the game, even if it's only for a little while. I suspect both of those will be much easier to accomplish once there is some expansion content out for the game.

Didn't the lead designer at GF9 die? Is it possible that Doctor Who was still in development at that point, and may have been finished by a different designer? I'm not surprised by the decision to shrink the base game and shift extra players and content to expansions, because that seems like a standard part of the GF9 business model. And it's fair to the players to offer a less expensive base game which they can enhance with expansions if they enjoyed the base.

Based on my limited exposure to Doctor Who, it seems like the perfectly thematic Doctor Who boardgame experience would require players to excitedly shout out a description of what they are doing while they roll the dice.

The Doctor Who game has been something of an ongoing saga over on BGG. By all indications it's taken the shape of an elaborate dice game, not unlike Elder Sign. There was also a move away from the larger $75 production to a smaller $50 box, knocking out two players (and two versions of the Doctor) in the process. Those will come with expansions.

There's some handwringing over all of this on BGG. Several people seem disappointed in the dice-based game that appears to be what we're getting, and there's been some out loud wondering if it'll capture the theme at all. (Seems hard to know that if we haven't played, but whatever.) Some people are also bummed that two Doctors have been cut, but I think that's more a product of fear that there won't be any expansions and that it'll be dropped like the WWE game.

I think the overlap of board gamers and Doctor Who fans is probably too broad for this game to flop, but I have modified my expectations accordingly. I am still generally optimistic, but then I've got a bigger acceptance for "abstraction" when translating stuff like this. I'm not sure what a perfectly "thematic" experience would even be for Doctor Who. Mostly I'm looking for a game that allows me to find creative solutions to problems, and lets me grow attached to specific characters within the game, even if it's only for a little while. I suspect both of those will be much easier to accomplish once there is some expansion content out for the game.

Didn't the lead designer at GF9 die? Is it possible that Doctor Who was still in development at that point, and may have been finished by a different designer? I'm not surprised by the decision to shrink the base game and shift extra players and content to expansions, because that seems like a standard part of the GF9 business model. And it's fair to the players to offer a less expensive base game which they can enhance with expansions if they enjoyed the base.

Based on my limited exposure to Doctor Who, it seems like the perfectly thematic Doctor Who boardgame experience would require players to excitedly shout out a description of what they are doing while they roll the dice.

Good call on the lead designer's passing, I had forgotten about that.

I think a smaller scope of game is actually kind of welcome. Both Spartacus and Firefly are fun, but they are just a bit too long for regular play. The smaller package here is probably more in line with the sort of game it is. Fifty dollar games are about as cheap as they come anymore.

My most cynical interpretation of a Doctor Who game would be one where swap character locations for thirty minutes and then defeat the final baddie with the power of love.

I've been thinking about this old thread lately. Which of these games got published in 2017, and how did folks here like them?

The only one that I picked up was Escape from One Million B.C. I liked it, but most of my friends just thought that it was okay. Like a BGG 7. I still think that there are some neat ideas in the game, like the map exploration mechanic and the animal packs. But aside from the semi-random map, the game offers modest replay value. Kevin Wilson's design is so tight that each games tends to play out with the same overall story arc. Phase one: explore. Phase two: cope with wandering dinosaurs. Phase three: race to finish before paradox defeats you.

Assault of the Giants looked like a boring and over-priced DOAM game, so I passed on it.

Did any of the other games on this list even come out yet? I heard some mildly positive buzz about Doctor Who from folks who went to GenCon, but nothing since.

Big Trouble had printing delays and is supposed to be out in February. I feel certain I've seen a copy of Shark Island at one of the local stores. I'm pretty sure Rising Sun hasn't made it. Don't know about the rest.

Here are my thoughts on the stuff that came out and I've managed to actually play from this list:

Big Trouble in Little China - This was supposed to come out in November. It was delayed until 2018. It's competing in a genre that with each passing month feels more and more like a crowd of people jam packed into an elevator. It's facing an uphill battle if it's gonna stand out , but I'm still excited to try it out.

Alien Artifacts - I played this at Trashfest NE this year with Legomancer and SJN. I really enjoyed it. I'm a huge fan of card based games where the cards are used for multiple things. This has that in spades. I've waffled on getting it because I don't know if it's actually better than 51st State or Imperial Settlers. The ol' gut tells me that it's not.

Justice League The Board Game - I think this ended up getting delayed to 2018. Haven't heard jack shit about it.

Heroes of Land, Air, and Sea - Another game that was delayed until 2018. Gamelyn Games botched the initial Kickstarter which pissed off a bunch of people for Kickstarter-y reasons (read: angry nerdy man rage). It still looks like an interesting design that is trying to faithfully export the experience of Warcraft II/III into boardgame form.

Escape from 100 Million B.C. - This game defied all odds and actually turned out to be pretty fucking great. It's a well designed co-op that is actually about time travel. I don't particularly gravitate towards co-op games, but this one manages to excite me. Maybe I'm a just a sucker for dinosaurs.

Shark Island - This game was lambasted by some of the "big" reviewers. They're all full of shit. This game is helluva lot of fun. It's Jaws in a box. Is it going to win any awards for thought provoking innovated design? No of course not. It is however a rock solid 1 vs All game that is jam packed with shark stuff. This is big dumb fun...one of my favorites from this year.

First Martians - Easily the most disappointing game on this list. It's not even close. The rulebook is complete and utter shit and the game evokes the dreadfulness of doing chores. After the initial glow of my first couple plays wore off, I settled into the reality that this is the exact type of co-op that I despise. The app enhanced gameplay doesn't really add much and I'd rather play Robinson Crusoe instead.

Rising Sun - I believe it's shipping in December/January, but yeah I haven't played it yet. Looks amazing though.

Assault of the Giants - I picked up a copy of this one, but I still haven't gotten it to the table. It has some really interesting elements and I'm curious to see how much staying power it has. This is another game that is kung fu flipping into an arena FILLED with excellent games.

Doctor Who - I haven't played it and this one has undergone so many changes since I wrote this article that I'm not even sure it would still make the list. By all accounts it's a very simplistic dice rolling game with a Doctor Who veneer. I'll give Gale Force 9 the benefit of the doubt, but my hopes aren't that high that this one turns out great.

The Doctor Who game came out in the UK about a month ago. I picked it up and have played one game. I wasn't expecting too much to be honest but I was pleasantly surprised. It's not amazing or anything but it's a fun semi-cooperative romp. Maybe a little long for what it is and in a way it feels a little incomplete - did they strip out some of the content to keep costs down or something? But we all had a good time. The miniatures are pretty good too - they actually look like the Doctors they are supposed to represent.